Ford rejects request from local medical officer of health for more autonomy in lifting restrictions

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is rejecting a request from one of the province’s local medical officers of health for more autonomy, in terms of gradually lifting the restrictions in place to manage and contain COVID-19.

“The answer is no,” Ford said in his daily press conference, when asked by iPolitics about the letter sent to him by Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington medical officer Kieran Moore — which was signed, jointly, by the warden of Lennox and Addington, the warden of Frontenac, and the mayor of Kingston.

“We have to run the province as one group, one unit. That’s how we’ve ended up getting the numbers down a bit. We can’t have people going rogue per se and loosening up restrictions in one area,” Ford told reporters.

“If they loosen up restrictions in one area, well, guess where everyone from Toronto or the GTA are going if they want to go have dinner or whatever? They’re all going to flock to Kingston.”

“A regionalized approach will permit close monitoring in a community context, matched with community capacity to mitigate consequences,” the letter pitches to Ford. A regionalized approach was also pitched as an opportunity for “real-time evaluation activities at a smaller, more nimble scale.” “In turn, with regional evaluation measures in place, we will collect rapid feedback related to specific easing activities and inform risk assessments,” the letter says.

As of Wednesday, data on the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington public health site reflected zero deaths so far recorded from COVID-19, and a total of 61 cases — 59 of which are considered to now be resolved. The region has made headlines for keeping the virus from its long-term care homes — its online count sits, as of Wednesday, at zero. One case had been announced in a long-term care home, but was later deemed a “false positive,” per the Globe and Mail.

The region’s public data shows zero cases so far requiring hospitalization, ICU or ventilators. As of Wednesday afternoon, their data showed 4,923 tests competed, with 130 pending. Local cases were largely (49 per cent) acquired through close contact with another patient, per their own breakdown, with another 30 per cent believed to have been acquired through travel, 18 per cent via community transmission. In 3 per cent of local cases, that information is listed as pending.

The Ontario government announced some new measures on Wednesday in terms of reopening the provincial economy and easing restrictions. As early as Friday, the government says that garden centres and nurseries can open up their stores, with hardware and safety supply stores following suit as early as Saturday. The number of construction projects allowed to proceed has also now been widened, and will include projects like apartments and condo buildings.

Ford took aim at some of Ontario’s local medical officers this week, alleging that roughly half were falling short of expectations for COVID-19 testing — though he declined to specify which medical officers, exactly, he was criticizing. The Ford PCs have previously proposed consolidating dozens of the province’s public health units int0 10 regional agencies, as reported by Global News. After his critical remarks Tuesday, Ford was asked by a reporter about changes on the horizon for the province’s public health structure, to which replied that he’d “always believed in centralizing, standardizing.”

“It’s a lot easier to hold one person accountable than 34 people accountable,” Ford said. His government would explore models like the public health system in Alberta, he confirmed — but didn’t commit specifically to a similar system for Ontario. “I’m not saying they aren’t doing their job. I’m saying they aren’t performing,” Ford said of the medical officers.

The premier’s comments were panned by Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath. “It was shocking to hear Doug Ford throw Public Health leaders under the bus. He determines how many public health units and labs we have, and how much funding they get,” Horwath wrote in a statement. The provincial Liberals, too, took a shot at Ford on Twitter Wednesday.

As previously reported by iPolitics, nearly 15 per cent of Ontario’s public health units lacked a permanent medical officer of health as of April, with acting medical officers filling the top post — in some cases — for years. While some said their vacancy was part of a planned process, others reported persistent problems recruiting permanent officers to their regions.